New Pot Still Head

[WV Shine]

I threw this together last night with some parts I ordered from pexsupply... definitely recommend them for dwv fittings, very cheap.

Goes from 2" down to 1/2"
MPT connection because I can use it with the extension from my vm

[Prairiepiss]

Looks good. Should work good for you.

[WV Shine]

Thanks PP, Hope to run it soon! Figured I might as well use the right tool for the job (stripping), and let the VM do what it does best

And honestly I'm really more of a whiskey drinker anyways, so I cant wait to start working on that after i get a good supply of neutral to play with.

[Prairiepiss]

Try this. Make up some all bran. Run it though your pot still head. Not as a stripping run but slow. Now take and keep only the center most hearts out of that run for a whisky drink. It will be a faux light wheat whisky. Then take all the rest of it and set it aside to run though the VM to get your neutral after you collect enough. This way you can get two drinks out of one ferment.

[WV Shine]

That's actually about what i did for my first real run post cleaning my VM I just left packing out and ran it as close to a pot still as I could. Me being from WV originally, I wanted to produce a 'shine-like" product for my first run instead of vodka/neutral some ujssm may have been more appropriate though...
We drank most of it waaaay too quickly I did happen to find a qt. jar that escaped somehow and put some oak cubes in it... holy crap, its delicious now. Wish I had done that with all of it!

Now i'm in the midst of a few 10gal strips on birdwatchers to get a stock of neutral for macerations, gin, etc.

[rad14701]

Try this. Make up some all bran. Run it though your pot still head. Not as a stripping run but slow. Now take and keep only the center most hearts out of that run for a whisky drink. It will be a faux light wheat whisky. Then take all the rest of it and set it aside to run though the VM to get your neutral after you collect enough. This way you can get two drinks out of one ferment.

Yep, that's what I do, except I use my LM for my neutral spirits...

[WV Shine]

I was just thinking about the steep downward angle on my still head (and many others I've seen on this site)...
I know that on commercial stills, the angle of the lyne arm is used to control the character of the spirit, via some passive reflux; i.e. angled down = heavier more flavorful, angled up = lighter, level = in between. What I'm wondering is if it makes a whole lot of difference on a hobby still scale? I doubt there's a whole lot of passive reflux going on in our lyne arms once they come up to heat...
I've seen some designs on the site that allow the angle to be changed, does anyone have any experience with this? Does the angle really matter for us?

[rad14701]

I was just thinking about the steep downward angle on my still head (and many others I've seen on this site)...
I know that on commercial stills, the angle of the lyne arm is used to control the character of the spirit, via some passive reflux; i.e. angled down = heavier more flavorful, angled up = lighter, level = in between. What I'm wondering is if it makes a whole lot of difference on a hobby still scale? I doubt there's a whole lot of passive reflux going on in our lyne arms once they come up to heat...
I've seen some designs on the site that allow the angle to be changed, does anyone have any experience with this? Does the angle really matter for us?

Whether the angle makes a difference in profile depends on several other factors... One factor is the amount of actual parasitic reflux created by temperature differential between the inside of the lyne arm and the ambient temperature... Another factor is the volume of vapor and vapor speed combination because if the vapor speed is great enough and the vapor density is low enough there will be little chance for condensation to build up and flow counter to the vapor direction because the vapor will keep the condensation moving towards the condenser... It's hit and miss whether a specific hobby sized still will benefit from lyne arm profile differences or not... Members here have had varying results...